Florida · Nonprofit
DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC
DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC (Florida) receives grants from 117 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,307,939 to it, the largest being PINE ROCK FOUNDATION INC ($1,725,000). 75 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.5M
- Funders on record
- 117
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $30M
What Ding Darling Wildlife Society Inc does
Mission
"founded in 1945, the j.n. "ding" darling national wildlife refuge consists of nearly 8,000 acres of some of the most unique and ecologically important ecosystems in the world. Budgets continue to decrease, and federal funding does not cover all the needs of this very populated refuge. As a result, the "ding" darling wildlife society - friends of the refuge (ddws) provides financial support where federal funding falls short. Every year, the visitation to the refuge increases and nearly one million visitors explore these public lands. For nearly 40 years, the ddws has supported the refuge in areas of education, land acquisition, interpretive signage and exhibits, habitat management, biological studies, water research, and much more.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Art in the wild & other annual events in october, art in the wild celebrates national wildlife refuge week, the birthday of the refuge's namesake, jay norwood "ding" darling, as well as the personal appearance by the winner of the federal duck stamp contest. This event merges art, nature, and community outreach; attracting families, artists, and conservation supporters. All community art events that are hosted at the roost, the visitor & education cetner, and outreach venues, are free and open to the public, thanks to the financial support of art- in-education initiatives and ongoing conservation work. Go wild for ding go wild for "ding," the society's flagship annual fundraising gala, is a powerful testament to the generosity, vision, and shared commitment of our community. Held each february at the sanibel community house, this spirited evening brings together donors, conservationists, business leaders, and nature lovers for a celebration of purpose, partnership, and philanthropy. From high-profile auctions to immersive experiences that benefit the refuge, the event offers a dynamic blend of education, engagement, and giving. Guests also enjoy a lively dinner reception, tailored…
$1,759,602 spentof which $109,961 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,759,602.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $6.5M to $12M (+88%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2018 3% · 2020 0% · 2022 0% · 2023 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
81% of DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (74% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 26 funders to 50 funders, grant income rose $355k → $3.1M.
30 of 117 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 41% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 117 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
41% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 42% · 2018 42% · 2019 45% · 2020 21% · 2021 31% · 2022 16% · 2023 49% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
42% of DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC draws 95% of its grant income from funders outside Florida, across 27 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 17 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 717 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 717 animals nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Florida
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
65%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC?
- DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC (Florida) receives grants from 117 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,307,939 to it, the largest being PINE ROCK FOUNDATION INC ($1,725,000). 75 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC have?
- IRS filings report 117 organizations giving $12,307,939 in grants to DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC, 75 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC?
- PINE ROCK FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,725,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DING DARLING WILDLIFE SOCIETY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 117 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing